


You put the ace in place

by 5ftjewishcactus



Series: Pl(ace) [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alive Cole Anderson, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Canon Compliant, Falling In Love, Feelings, Happy Ending, M/M, Mentions of Sex Attempts, No Smut, Past Relationship(s), Self Confidence Issues, Self-Acceptance, Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 06:15:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20271295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5ftjewishcactus/pseuds/5ftjewishcactus
Summary: Hank Anderson struggled for years with his identity. Never quite felt like he fit in with his peers. After many failed relationships and lots of self-discovery, Hank eventually becomes comfortable in who he is and finds happiness.





	You put the ace in place

**Author's Note:**

> This was a difficult fic to write because of how much of my own experiences as an asexual person I was putting into it. While Hank's experiences aren't exactly my own, there are a lot of things that I did experience. Especially before I found out about asexuality. I was lucky that I was only twenty-two when I found out about asexuality. But it is something that I wish I could've learned sooner. Would've saved myself a lot of heartache. But hopefully, like Hank, I too one day will find my happy ending. 
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful friends in the Animal Farm discord for helping me as I wrote this and encouraged me. 
> 
> Like my other fics, this one has also been converted to f/f. Part one is m/m, part two is f/f, if that's something you'd be interested in.

When Hank was younger, he'd always felt like he didn't quite fit in with many of his other friends. They joked and made comments about the girls they were sleeping with. Hank knew most of them were talking a lot of shit compared to the actual action they were getting. Hank tried to avoid engaging in the discussions, but his teammates on the basketball team were quick to drag him in, showing him pictures of swimsuit and scantily clad women in magazines, so Hank would pretend. Claim the women were sexy and intriguing and he wanted a piece of that action. It was all lies. While the women (and men) in the magazines were objectively attractive, Hank didn't find them sexually appealing. He wasn't interested in sex at all. He didn't know why. It was just how he felt.  
  
As their senior year was heading towards its end, several of Hank's closest friends were confessing how they'd finally lost their virginity. Hank hadn't yet. Had no desire to. But as more of his friends spoke about their escapades, the more Hank felt like something was wrong. That maybe he was… broken. His high school sweetheart adored him and the fact that he hadn't pushed her yet for sex. Hank couldn't tell her it was because he wasn't interested in it. He adored her, she was smart and funny and kind. She wanted to go to college to get her degree in chemistry. They'd met freshmen year because Hank had needed a tutor for his science class.  
  
It ended up being Jennifer who tried initiating their first time. They were at a party at a friend's house, after the last game of the season. They'd all been drinking since the team captain's parents were out of town. It was easy for Hank then to claim he was too drunk for sex. Jennifer was disappointed, but understanding. Hank was relieved, more than he felt he should be, which in turn made him feel guilty. The next time though, Hank didn't have the excuse of alcohol. He'd spent the entire afternoon at Jennifer's house, watching movies with her and helping cook dinner. She'd been on him the minute they'd been alone in her room. He'd fumbled his way through that first time, getting Jennifer off with fingers and tongue. The next time, Jennifer had attempted to give him a blow job. He'd managed to turn the focus on her and getting her off, while he faked his way through his own. After that, Hank came up with reasons to distance himself from her. He felt bad doing it, but he couldn't keep trying to do something he didn't want to do.  
  
Trying to talk to his father about it was even harder. It was like his father didn't want to discuss sex with his son and only managed an awkward "Good job" after asking Hank if he'd remembered to use protection. Hank shifted his focus on finishing the school year, preparing for finals. He already had a basketball scholarship, if he wanted it. He was thinking of joining the police academy, become a cop like his dad. While his father was proud of his basketball achievements, he only saw it as a hobby, something Hank did to further his academic career.  
  
Which admittedly Hank had originally tried out for the basketball team because it would look good on his college applications. But he found he enjoyed the sport a great deal. He liked being part of a team, part of a community. Plus, it felt like something that was his and not something his dad had pushed him into. A small part of him wanted to go to college on his basketball scholarship. But the practical part of him knew basketball wouldn't pan out in the end. He'd have an actual career becoming a cop. And it would make his dad proud.  
  
Jennifer was understanding that Hank's academics came first, but she kept trying to get him to come over, claiming they could study together. Especially as prom neared. Hank wasn't even sure if he wanted to go to prom. There was too much pressure associated with it. Between his friends and their comments about the infamous on-goings of prom night and what he was sure Jennifer expected. It made Hank feel sick. That ended up being his excuse the night of prom. He told Jennifer he couldn't make it, that he was sick, food poisoning and that he was sorry. She was disappointed but told him to feel better. He stayed at home all night, feeling guilty as hell for lying to her, but he couldn't face her.  
  
Two days before graduation, Jennifer dumped him. Claimed it was because she was going out of state for college, but Hank knew it was because he'd been pushing her away. It was for the best. Hank walked graduation, went to the post-graduation party, and then went home, alone. He threw himself into the academy. He was going to be a cop and he was going to make his father proud. That was fine, that was good. He pushed thoughts of Jennifer and sex out of his head. And life went on.  
  
Until he met Franklin, a fellow cadet. Frankie was great. He was kind and funny and he pushed Hank to work harder every day. They'd started in a sort of competition until one day when Frankie turned the tables and began flirting with Hank. At first, Hank thought it was just a means to psych him out, but then he realized Frankie meant it. The flirting went back and forth for weeks until Hank finally asked Frankie out on a date. They went to dinner and a movie and Frankie kissed him at the end of the date. Both of them being cadets meant that dates were whenever they had a spare weekend, around the homework and training. Sometimes they'd just find a quiet corner to study in together and curl together on a couch in the dorms to watch TV. It was nice. Hank appreciated that Frankie wasn't pushing for anything more.  
  
Then during a four day weekend, just the two of them in the dorms, Frankie asked if Hank wanted to try. He knew by then that Hank was a virgin when it came to sex with another man. Hank had decided he was willing to try. He was wondering if maybe he was gay and if that was why sex with Jennifer had been uncomfortable. He liked her, adored her, but something was missing. Hank just wasn't sure what. So he and Frankie tried. Frankie was kind and patient and understanding when Hank struggled. Even held Hank as he cried.  
  
"I'm broken," Hank sobbed, burying his head into Frankie's shoulder.  
  
"Oh sweetheart, you aren't broken. Sex is complicated and sometimes it just doesn't work."  
  
Hank nodded but he didn't believe it. They spent the rest of the weekend curled up watching TV and cuddling. Nothing more. Even their kisses were chaste. Over the following weeks, Hank took Frankie's suggestion to masturbate and see what he liked. He wasn't even sure what to think about, so he tried pulling up a porn video but found it difficult to watch two strangers have sex. So instead he focused on what he was familiar with. He thought about Frankie, how attractive he was, how nice he'd look naked. After trying for several minutes, Hank gave up. He wasn't enjoying it, it wasn't doing anything for him. No matter how much he tried to focus on Frankie or how it felt to stroke his cock, there was just nothing. It left him feeling empty. Feeling broken. He was broken. There was no point denying it.  
  
Hank didn't know how to talk to Frankie about it, just like he hadn't known how to talk to Jennifer about it, so he did was he knew how to do and threw himself into his studies. It was easier that way. Frankie, bless him, called Hank out on it. Told him he couldn't ignore his problems forever. Hank knew that. He did. But he also knew Frankie deserved better. Deserved someone who wasn't broken. Frankie tried to fight him on it, said he wasn't going to give up on Hank, that they could figure it out together. But Hank stood firm. He'd made his choice. Even if it meant his unhappiness. When Frankie finally left, Hank curled into his bed and cried.  
  
He didn't try dating again for the rest of his academic career. Focused on his studies, on his training. He'd grown up with his dad training him to one day be a cop, so training at the academy wasn't much different. More physical in some aspects. But Hank liked it. He liked his studies, liked the training and working himself physically. He made a friend with one of his fellow trainees, Jeffrey Fowler. Jeff was engaged to his high school sweetheart, who was attending the University of Michigan for business management. They invited Hank over for dinner a couple of times and Hank hoped to one day find the same happiness they had.  
  
He graduated from the academy top of his class, Valedictorian. Offered a job at Detroit Police Department, under Jeffrey's father, Captain Jeffrey Fowler Sr. Hank worked hard, was a good cop. It was his third year that he met Katharine. She worked at a bank as a teller that had a robbery attempt. She'd been the one to disarm the would-be robber. Flipped the man onto his back when he'd tried to grab her to use as a hostage. Hank was impressed. But he was also a professional. It was Katharine who made the first move, sending Hank a box of Thank You donuts and her phone number. Hank called her that night and asked her out on a date.  
  
They went to dinner with plans for a movie afterward, but they talked so much during dinner, they missed the movie times. For their second date, they went bowling and Kat beat him by eighteen points. He kissed her afterward when he dropped her off at her house. It was during their third date, at Kat's house where she'd made them dinner, that Hank confessed that he thought he was broken, that sex hadn't been a good experience for him.  
  
"Oh, darling. You aren't broken," Kat said. "But you might be asexual."  
  
"Like a plant?" Hank asked.  
  
"No. Asexuality is when someone doesn't experience sexual attraction. Many asexual people don't engage in sexual activity. It's perfectly normal."  
  
Hank stared at her a moment, unsure how he felt.  
  
"I'll be right back."  
  
Kat disappeared into her bedroom before returning with her laptop. She opened it and pulled up various web pages on asexuality and handed the computer to Hank to read. Hank read everything. When he was done, he was crying. Happy tears this time.  
  
"I'm not broken," he said.  
  
"No, you're not, darling," Kat replied.  
  
"And you're…? Is this okay?"  
  
"Yeah. I like you, Hank. A lot."  
  
For the first time in a while, Hank was happy. Things were good with his job and his love life. Something he thought he'd never have. He and Katharine continued to date for the next three years. Got engaged and were married by the end of the fourth year. During their fifth year together, they decided to adopt a young boy named Cole. He was four years old and had only known his foster home his entire life. Hank adored his son. He loved being a father. He'd been worried, with his strained relationship with his father, that he wouldn't know how to be one. But he found being a father to be one of the best things to happen to him.  
  
It was two years later that things took a turn. Hank had worked his way up to Lieutenant, after extensive work with the Red Ice Task Force. He thought things at home were good, too. Cole was doing well in school. Kat had taken a new job that seemed to make her happy. So Hank felt a bit blindsided when Kat sat him down one night (one of the rare nights they both had off) and said she'd been thinking for a while and she realized she wasn't happy anymore. Not because Hank didn't make her happy and it had nothing to do with their lack of sex life. Her new job had shown her that her life had stalled and something needed to change. She'd been offered a promotion, a job in Greece if she wanted it. And she did. Very much. So Hank let her go.  
  
She kept in touch, calling and texting most days and video chats on the weekends with Cole. But even before she'd left, Hank knew it was only a matter of time before their marriage was over. Sure enough, three months after she'd left, Kat requested a divorce. Hank signed the papers. The only thing he wanted was sole custody of Cole and Kat was willing to give him that.  
  
Hank struggle for a while. Jeffrey and Ben were there for him, helping him as needed. Jeffrey made sure he had primarily day shifts, so he could be home in the evenings with Cole. Cole's friends' parents helped, too, letting Cole come over after school until Hank got off work. They even helped out when Cole joined the basketball team at school, making sure he got home from practices and to and from games if Hank wasn't able to be there. His neighbor, Margot, would watch Cole whenever Hank was called to a crime scene late at night.  
  
Ben, in a bid to try to ease the loneliness for both Hank and Cole, suggested they adopt a dog. Cole approved of this idea wholeheartedly and so Hank ended up at the animal shelter with Cole, staring into the cage of a four-year-old Saint Bernard.  
  
"I want that one!" Cole said.  
  
And Hank couldn't say no. So, they adopted the Saint Bernard and Cole named him Sumo.  
  
Hank's therapist agreed that a dog was good for them, good for Cole. Hank liked his therapist. Doreen was an older woman, only a few years older than Hank himself and an out and proud lesbian who knew of asexuality when Hank first started seeing her but had jumped at the opportunity to do more research and expand her knowledge. Even though Kat had been the one to help Hank realize he was asexual, a part of Hank still blamed his lack of sex drive on Kat leaving. And he still had a lot of baggage from his previous relationships. Feared that he'd never find love, not when so much of society seemed to function on the idea of sex. It was a lot to work through, but Hank was glad he made the plunge. When Cole started acting out, Doreen recommended a therapist for him to see, too.  
  
Three years passed before things changed for the better. Androids had become commonplace for a while in society. While Hank had never thought about buying one of his own, he knew that a couple of Cole's friends had ones and that Cole liked them well enough. Hank just felt that if he bought one, to help with Cole, that he'd be admitting failure, that he wasn't able to take care of his son himself. Somehow it was easier to accept the help of people than purchase an android to take care of his son. Then something happened. Several somethings. There was a shift somewhere, change on the horizon and that was when Hank met Connor. Some androids had started to deviate, go against or away from their programming. Some had been hostile, had hurt people, their owners. Connor had been created by Cyberlife to hunt and stop deviants and he was assigned to Hank as a partner.  
  
Less than a week and an android revolution later, Connor was a newly deviated android with nowhere to go. Cole insisted Connor stay with them. In the short time, Hank had become fond of the android. Connor was a good man if a little misguided by his programming. He'd broken through, deviated with the rest of them, in the end, and even helped the revolution turn the tide in androids' favor. While he couldn't return to work with Hank, he did what he could to help Markus and the others as they planned to meet with the President and other officials in DC. Hank encouraged him to go, even as their relationship began to shift.  
  
"Are you sure I should go?" Connor asked. "I'm gonna miss you."  
  
Hank chuckled. "Yeah, I'm gonna miss you, too, but it'll be good for you to go. Help your people. We can talk every night."  
  
Connor smiled at that, as they'd sat on the couch with a Gears game on, while Cole played his handheld game system in the chair. That night, Hank invited Connor to share his bed, for platonic cuddles. Most nights Connor "slept" on the couch. Sometimes Sumo would curl up with him. Tonight, the large dog curled up at the end of the bed, while Hank cuddled Connor.  
  
The next morning, both Hank and Cole gave Connor great big hugs before he left for the week.  
  
As promised, they spoke every night. Cole would always take a few moments to talk to Connor, ask what he thought about DC, ask if Connor was gonna bring him a souvenir (Connor had already bought several) before leaving his dad to talk with Connor alone.  
  
"I… I hope it's okay that I bought you some souvenirs too," Connor said.  
  
"You didn't have to, but thank you," Hank replied.  
  
"Of course I had to, Hank. I wouldn't be here without you. Or Cole. I don't know how else to thank you both."  
  
"Connor, you don't have to buy us stuff. Just… do good work with Markus and come home to us."  
  
There was a beat of silence followed by a soft hum.  
  
"Home," Connor said with a wistful sigh.  
  
Hank smiled, too, even though Connor couldn't see it. "Yeah, home. I mean… if you don't mind living with us."  
  
"Oh, Hank. Of course, I don't mind. I…" Connor paused a moment. "You're both very important to me. Sumo too."  
  
"You're important to us, too. Sumo especially. I don't spoil him like you do."  
  
Connor chuckled. There was a sound in the background and Connor sighed. "We have dinner plans with a senator."  
  
"Go. Try to have fun despite the politics."  
  
"I will. Markus and Josh are far better at the conversation aspect of negotiations. North jokes that she and I are just the eye candy."  
  
"Nah, you two are the bodyguards."  
  
"She'll like that. Have a good night, Hank."  
  
"You too, Con."  
  
Hank went back to watch the news until Cole had finished his homework and came back to join Hank for a couple of episodes of their favorite sitcom before bed. Connor text Hank a picture of the dinner that was set up for them, with North in the background looking peeved. The caption read: "Senator spent all this money to wine and dine us and we can't even enjoy it." Hank sent a laughing emoji back.  
  
A couple more days passed before Connor sent word that they would be coming home the next day. There was more work to be done, but Markus and Josh were ready to come home and do more work closer to home. There was also the fact Carl still wasn't doing well and Markus wanted to spend as much time with his father as possible. He'd only agreed to the DC trip because Carl had insisted upon it.  
  
Connor's flight got in early that afternoon, so Hank took a late lunch to pick him up. He waited outside the gate for Connor to appear and Connor practically raced into Hank's arms. Hank held him close, glad to have him home.  
  
"I missed you," Connor whispered.  
  
"I missed you, too," Hank replied.  
  
"Do you have to go back to work?" Connor asked.  
  
"Yeah, eventually."  
  
Connor nodded. They went to baggage claim and waited for Connor's suitcase.  
  
"I was thinking," Hank said, as he and Connor watched the incoming suitcases, "you could drop me back at work and then surprise Cole by picking him up after school. And then tonight, you two can pick me up and we'll go to dinner."  
  
"I'd like that. But what if you need your car?"  
  
"I'll ride with Ben."  
  
Connor smiled. Soon enough his suitcase came around and he grabbed it. They went out to Hank's car and he drove them towards Chicken Feed so he could grab food before returning to the station.  
  
"Hank," Connor said, as Hank pulled the car into the parking lot.  
  
"Yeah, Con?" Hank asked.  
  
He could tell Connor had something on his mind, as he took an unneeded deep breathe, his LED cycling yellowing as he tried to calm himself. Hank didn't want to interrupt him, but he wanted to do something to help. He reached over and held one of Connor's hands. Connor smiled at him and squeezed Hank's hand in return.  
  
"I… I care about you, a great deal," Connor said, LED still spinning yellow as he spoke. "I have… feelings for you."  
  
Hank smiled, great big grin as a blush form on his cheeks. "Oh, Connor. I feel the same way." He squeezed Connor's hand. "After Kat and I divorced, I thought maybe that was it for me. That… I wasn't meant to have this. But… I'm glad to be proven wrong." Hank lifted Connor's hand and kissed his knuckles.  
  
"Oh, Hank." Connor blushed, honest to g-d blushed, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks that Hank hadn't known Connor (or any androids) was capable of.  
  
Hank's phone pinged at him and he swore. "I have to get back to work, but… we'll talk later. Okay?"  
  
Connor nodded. "Cole and I will be here."  
  
Hank smiled and kissed Connor's knuckles again before exiting the car. Connor followed, and as he walked around the front, Hank pulled him into one last hug. Hank went back to work, quickly eating his lunch at his desk while working on the paperwork he'd left half-finished when he'd gone to pick up Connor.  
  
There was one crime scene to investigate all afternoon, a robbery at a local pawnshop. Stolen items included spare android parts. From what Hank could determine from the surveillance footage before it was hacked, were two figures dressed in black and wearing masks had broken in to steal the parts. At least one of the figures was an android, a flash of an LED light from under the hoodie the suspect wore. The owner wasn't going to press charges, figured if it was an android stealing back android parts. He just wanted to have the police report for insurance purposes.  
  
Hank was finishing up the paperwork for that when Cole came racing over to him.  
  
"Dad!" Cole all but yelled, skidding to a halt besides Hank's desk.  
  
"Hey, peanut. I'm just about done," Hank replied.  
  
He finished typing and submitted the report. With another couple of clicks, he shut down his terminal for the night. He turned to his son and smiled.  
  
"Alright. I'm ready," he said.  
  
Hank glanced towards Fowler's office to see that he wasn't currently busy.  
  
"Go tell Uncle Jeff we're out of here," Hank said, nudging Cole towards Fowler's office.  
  
Cole beamed and raced towards the large, glass office. "Uncle Jeff! I'm stealing dad!"  
  
Hank stood and pulled on his jacket while Cole hugged Fowler.  
  
"Have a good night, Hank," Fowler said, standing at the door of his office as Cole bound back over to him.  
  
"You too, Jeff," Hank replied.  
  
He walked with Cole out to the parking lot where Connor was waiting by the car. They smiled at each other and Hank could feel himself blushing.  
  
"Are you two going to kiss?" Cole asked.  
  
Hank chuckled and playfully shoved Cole towards the car. "Get in."  
  
He and Connor did not kiss, though Hank did give Connor another hug as they passed each other, so Hank could drive them to dinner. Cole talked the whole way to the restaurant, informing Hank about how all his homework was done, yes even his math homework, which Connor had helped him with because multiplication was hard. Hank was grateful that Connor had been able to help. It had been years since Hank had learned his multiplication and somewhere between then and now the rules of math had changed and Hank had felt as confused as Cole.  
  
Eventually, Hank pulled into the restaurant parking lot. Cole had chosen breakfast for dinner so Hank had driven to one of their favorite breakfast restaurants. The hostess led them to a booth near the back (Hank always liked the ones near the back so he could watch the front) and left them to ponder over the menu.  
  
"Now remember, peanut, you can't take home anything you don't eat, so only order what you'll actually eat," Hank said, as Cole flipped to the page featuring the various pancake stacks.  
  
"I know, dad," Cole replied.  
  
Hank shook his head. Cole always did this, ordered with his eyes and not his stomach and weeks later, Hank's fridge would be a scary laboratory of growing fungi from uneaten food and Hank was trying to put his foot down because he was tired of cleaning out his fridge from Cole's uneaten leftovers. Especially when it involved food that Hank wouldn't just take and eat himself before it went bad. Hank sighed and glanced down at his menu, contemplating an omelet when he realized Connor wasn't looking at his menu. Because he didn't eat.  
  
"Ah shit, Con, I'm sorry," he said.  
  
"It's fine, Hank. You two need dinner. Besides, Cole has already promised to let me sample the chocolate chip chocolate pancakes."  
  
"He did, huh?" Hank asked, looking over at his son who smiled a great big, gaped tooth smile at him. "Those pancakes have far too much sugar."  
  
"But dad," Cole said, elongating the words, "Connor has to try chocolate chip chocolate pancakes!"  
  
"One," Hank said, holding up his finger. "One pancake for you to eat and let Connor sample. The rest need to be regular or whole wheat."  
  
"Fine," Cole pouted.  
  
Hank shook his head again. He wasn't going to give in to his son's pouting. Not after the last time Cole had ordered all chocolate chip chocolate pancakes, neither of them had slept that night because of the stomach ache Cole had ended up with. Hank remembered in vivid detail how miserable his son had been. He wondered if it was some weird defense mechanism kids had that they seemed to forget those events.  
  
Once food and drinks were ordered, Cole pulled out his phone and began texting and playing games.  
  
"That goes back in your pocket once our food arrives," Hank reminded.  
  
"Yes, dad," Cole said.  
  
Hank sighed. Connor chuckled.  
  
"You know, you're signing up for this, too," Hank said, motioning towards Cole.  
  
"I know. I did think about that, while I was gone. I missed you both and you're both very important to me," Connor replied.  
  
Hank reached across the table and Connor did the same, so they could hold hands. Cole groaned and sunk farther in his chair. Hank nudged one of Cole's feet with his own.  
  
"Hey, peanut… are you okay with this?" he asked.  
  
"What? You and Connor? Yeah," Cole replied, looking at his dad over his cellphone. "Connor and I talked about it when he picked me up from school."  
  
Hank glanced at Connor and smiled, before looking back at his son. "Okay, well…"  
  
"Dad, I want you to be happy. I know mom leaving us wasn't easy," Cole said, setting his phone down on the table. "Besides, I didn't knock out that face stealing asshole just so Connor would leave forever."  
  
"Okay. That's fair. I want you to be happy, too, peanut."  
  
"And I am." Cole picked up his phone again and went back to playing one of his mobile games. "Though, I would be happier if I got a new game system as well as a new dad for Chanukah this year."  
  
Hank was about to tell Cole not to push his luck about the gaming system when his words registered in Hank's mind. He looked over at Connor, who also seemed to be processing the words Cole had said.  
  
"You… you see me as a parent?" Connor asked.  
  
"Well… yeah. If you and dad are together now, then that would make you…" Cole trailed off as he looked between Connor and Hank. "Did I mess this up?"  
  
"No, peanut, you didn't mess it up. I think there's a lot we need to talk about. Probably after dinner," Hank replied.  
  
"Cool," Cole said and went back to his phone.  
  
Hank smiled and squeezed Connor's hand, which he was still holding, and Connor squeezed his hand in return. They talked a bit about Connor's trip to DC, what he thought about the US Capitol, all the boring political nonsense Connor had to sit through while acting as bodyguard. The fact that Connor and North opened a single channel for the two of them to communicate through during the various meetings. Once their food arrived, Cole and Hank ate while Connor continued to tell them about DC. Connor did sample the chocolate chip chocolate pancakes and agreed with Hank's assessment that it did, in fact, have too much sugar. Cole shrugged and ate the rest of it happily.  
  
After dinner was done, Hank drove them back home where they did have their important talk. Hank didn't want any of them rushing into anything. Connor wasn't going anywhere, he lived with them and that wasn't going to change, as long as Connor didn't want it to. Cole didn't have to call Connor "dad" unless he wanted to. If he ever did. That was something else they could discuss later on if Cole ever felt differently about it. For now, Connor was just Connor.  
  
"Can we watch a movie now?" Cole asked.  
  
"Sure. Go pick something out," Hank replied, as Cole jumped up and raced into the other room where their extensive film collection lived. "An appropriate film!"  
  
Hank sank back on the couch next to Connor, who shifted to lean against him.  
  
"There's one more thing I want to discuss," Connor said.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Connor nodded. "I talked to North about this and she said it was best if I was honest with you. While I was designed to integrate with humans and functional alongside them… unlike other models, which could be upgraded for a price… as a prototype, I wasn't designed to be upgraded."  
  
"Upgraded?" Hank asked.  
  
"Yes. For… uh…" Connor glanced towards the doorway to the other room where Cole was before replying in a whisper. "Sex."  
  
"Oh! Well, that's okay," Hank replied. "We don't have to have sex. To also be honest with you, because I care about you, I don't even like sex."  
  
"You don't?" Connor asked.  
  
"Nope. I'm asexual. Sex has never meant anything to me. Not for a lack of trying and a lot of heartaches. I do like kissing though. And cuddling. If those are things you're interested in."  
  
"I very much am."  
  
Hank smiled and leaned in, gently tipping Connor's chin up and kissing him. It was a soft, chaste kiss, a mere press of lips. But somehow it was still perfect.  
  
"Ew," Cole said, as he came walking back into the room.  
  
"Ew yourself," Hank teased.  
  
Cole stuck his tongue out at his dad.  
  
"Put the movie in, ya goof," Hank chuckled.  
  
Cole popped the movie into the player and then sat on the big chair closest to the couch. Sumo moved from his spot in front of the fireplace, resting his head on the corner of the chair and whined.  
  
"Sumo," Hank warned.  
  
Sumo ignored him in favor of whining up at his favorite human, the one he could usually get extra bits of food from.  
  
"We don't both fit in the chair, buddy," Cole replied.  
  
"Boof!"  
  
Cole sighed and stood up, allowing Sumo to jump up into the chair and try to squeeze himself into a corner. Cole fit himself into the remaining space left and pet Sumo who panted happily next to him. With everyone settled, Hank played the film. He put his arm around Connor as the film began to play, smiling at his… well… he wasn't sure what to call Connor because he wasn't going to call him his boyfriend because he was too old for the word. But he smiled at Connor who smiled at him.  
  
In the back of his mind, Hank knew Doreen was gonna have a field day with this change. He'd only barely opened up about Connor and about the decision to help him during the revolution. He wondered if maybe Connor would like to see a therapist and made a mental note to ask him later. Maybe Doreen could make a recommendation for him, too. There were, of course, other things Hank would have to deal with. Like the next time Cole spoke to his mother, Hank would need to let her know that yes, Hank was seeing someone else, and yes, Cole was okay with that (he'd let Cole decide when/if he told his mother exactly how he felt about Connor.)  
  
But for now, for tonight, things were good. He was happy. His little family was happy, as they sat watching a movie together. And that was all Hank wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on tumblr [@5ftjewishcactus](https://5ftjewishcactus.tumblr.com/) or on twitter on my main [@5ftjewishcactus](https://twitter.com/5ftjewishcatus) or on my sfw gen fandom [@2ambiace](https://twitter.com/2ambiace) or my dbh [@asexualhankcon](https://twitter.com/asexualhankcon).


End file.
